Australia...the aftermath
Gilles took off in the first section, right in front of me, because of my strategy by beating him in the semi final so it was all in my favor, strong as he always is, he tried to ride that impossible concrete tube which I knew from the start was impossible... anyway; forced by gravity he does like everybody and dabs, not his favorite move I reckon. All of a sudden, while he is dabbing, I see my biggest chance to win: while he is in the air turning his bike around the arrow, he looses balance and both feet were for a little while at the right side of the frame, everybody standing around including me and the power-button-on cameras saw it BUT the checker never saw it he say so he got only 1 in stead of 5. Frustrated and stressed out as I was because of this I made 7 points in the first 3 sections, not really focussed on my own race, but I still manage to end up same points with Gilles after the first lap. The second lap I got really 'in the zone' and overcame section after section like if I was flying, ready to get the title BUT than, I got very disappointed AGAIN when I arrived at the last section number 6, 2nd lap, still having same points as Gilles. Because mr Fish had changed section 6 and had skipped the hardest part of it, the part where Gilles had a 5 the first lap and where I had a 2; the place where I could make the difference because Gilles might have tried and make points because he could have thought I would clean it to win OR he might have dabbed which would mean I had to try and clean it which was absolutely possible but I will never know, all I know is that I rode a damn good race, that I should have won my 9th title of WC in 2009, that it could have been my 4th title of elite WC 26", that it would make my position of record holder in 'elite titles' stronger and the most important; it would mean a better financial income, more exposure for sponsors, better PR campaign but now I am just 2nd, not bad you might think, but this is not why I am doing it for people. I am not living like a monk, train hard every single day and invest tons of money in training and traveling... to be 2nd, I am going for the win!! And if I have to deal with amateurs to decide rather I can or not I should maybe consider of only focussing on projects and shows for my sponsors which is for myself and I should also maybe stop promoting UCI and trials as a professional sport because it isn't always like that
